Improved process of finishing leather



. monly known as the French finish.

UN TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY O. WILLIAMS ()F LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVED PROCESS OF FINISHING LEATHER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,525. dated May 1'2, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY O. WILLIAMS, of Lancaster city, in the county of Lancaster and State-of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Mode 0r Process of Treating Leather after the Same is Tanned; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description thereof, sufiiciently in detail to enable any person skilled in the art to which the invention relates to practice the same.

My invention has for its object a certain treatment of all that class of leather known to the trade as waxed leather, or leather which is blacked on the flesh side; and my invention is equally applicable to leather whether in the tanning process it has been high or lowlime'd, as will behereinafterdescribed, the treatment or process to which I subject it producin g, when the leather is thereafter finished in the ordinary way, that peculiar softness,

gloss, and pliability characteristic of that class of leather which is prepared by a process com- For this purpose I take waxed leather which in the operation of tanning, has been low limed, and subject it to a solution, as follows: I take of sal-tartar, one-fourth of a pound; pear-lash, one ounce; potash, one ounce; sal-soda, onefourth of a pound; sal-ammoniac, one-fourth of a pound; supercarbonate of soda, one-half of a pound; boraX, one-fourth of a pound; Epsom salts, one-half of a pound; sulphate of soda, one-fourth of a pound. These ingredients I place in any suitable vessel and pour upon them sufficient water, either hot or cold, to thoroughly dissolve them. I then add to such solution about twenty gallons of water and stir the same thoroughly. I then immerse the hides in the solution, allowing them to remain therein about ten minutes, after which they are taken out, redried, and finished in the ordinary manner.

For treating waxed-leather hides which in the operation of tanning have been highlimed for the purpose of freeing them from gluten and other feculent matter, I use the above-named ingredients, but in one-half of the proportions above named. I would here state, however, that the sal-soda may in either case be dispensed with without detriment; but all of the other ingredients named I regard as indispensable to the effect to be produced upon the leather of that soft, glossy, pliable character which is peculiar to the French finish.

Having thus described my invention for treating leather, I would have it distinctly understood that I do not mean to confine myself to the exact proportions of the ingredients above named, as such proportions may be varied according as the leather to be treated may have been low or high limed in the previous operation of tanning, the leather when low-limed requiring a greater proportion of the above-named ingredients than when highlimed; but

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-- The process of treating leather (after the same has been subjected to the operation of tanning) substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

Witness my hand in the matter of my application for a patent for my improved mode of treating leather this 1st day of April, A. D. 1868.

H. O. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

D. (J. LAWRENCE, 1%. T. CAMPBELL. 

